Chris Pontius and Galaxy delighted he is home again

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Chris Pontius, seen trying to get past Jimmy Medranda, left, and Illie Sanchez of Sporting Kansas City, has either a goal or an assist in the past six games for the Galaxy. (Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)

Chris Pontius saw an opportunity to come back to Southern California and he jumped at it.

Pontius, who was born in Yorba Linda and attended Servite High, spent the first nine years of his Major League Soccer career on the East Coast, playing seven seasons with D.C. United and the past two with the Philadelphia Union.

“I really enjoyed my time on the East Coast,” he said. “The good thing about the two places I was in, I loved both places. I never had a place where I was trying to push my way out of. Both cities were good, in terms of the club. The way they treated me, it was also good.

“I never fell into the case where you hear about players wanting out so bad that they have to force their way out. That never happened to me. I really enjoyed my time on the East Coast.”

In the offseason, he finally made it back home, joining the Galaxy as a free agent.

“I thought eventually, at some point, I’m going to make it back to L.A. and be able to play in front of family and friends,” Pontius said. “You don’t get the opportunity to call your own shots in terms of where you want to play very often. I happened to fall into that free-agency category and I was able to do that, so I had to take advantage of it.”

Both sides are glad he did.

Pontius has played in 18 of the Galaxy’s 19 games entering Saturday’s visit to face the Union (4 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet). He’s made 10 starts, including the past six, and he’s riding a seven-game streak of either scoring a goal or recording an assist.

He scored a pair of goals, including the winner, as the Galaxy rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the late stages of stoppage time to defeat the New England Revolution last week.

“I knew we picked up a good player in Chris Pontius,” Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid of the offseason move. “I knew we picked up a guy who was versatile, who could play center forward if we needed it, which he’s done a couple of times. He can play right wing, he can play left wing … he’s just a good pro and a good teammate.”

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It can be argued Pontius has proved to be the most important offseason acquisition for the club. His steady play has been one of the key reasons the Galaxy have started to see things move in a positive direction, riding a six-game unbeaten streak into Saturday’s game and a 5-1-3 stretch in the past nine contests.

“To be honest, a lot of it has been being in the right place at the right time,” Pontius said. “Right now, I’m confident in front of the net, so anything I feel when I’m in the 18 (yard-box) when I’m looking to take a shot, I feel confident.

“It is a good feeling as an attacking player because I’ve been in some periods last year where I second-guessed myself any time I was in the box. It didn’t come natural to me, and right now, I’m just playing free. It’s a good feeling.”

Pontius enters the week with five goals, tied for third on the team. He has four assists. He scored a career-high 12 goals in 2016 with the Union, when he was selected MLS Comeback Player of the Year.

Last season, he scored two goals with six assists in 30 appearances for the Union.

The conversation with Schmid during their meeting before he signed was simple and didn’t come with any assurances, except for the one Pontius gave.

“Nothing was promised,” Pontius said. “He couldn’t promise me a starting role, he couldn’t promise me anything. I told him I was OK with that. I’ll come in and work.”

GALAXY (8-7-4, 28 points) at PHILADELPHIA UNION (7-9-3, 24 points)

Kickoff: Saturday, 4 p.m. at Talen Energy Stadium

TV/radio: Spectrum SportsNet; KWKW/1330; LAGalaxy.com (English)

Update: The Union defeated Orlando City SC 1-0 in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals Wednesday. The Union snapped a two-game losing streak in MLS play with a 4-3 win over the Chicago Fire on July 11. Borek Dockal leads the Union with five goals. The teams played to a scoreless draw in last year’s meeting. The Galaxy will be without Perry Kitchen and Ashley Cole due to red card suspensions. The Galaxy are 3-3-3 on the road and have moved up to sixth in the Western Conference.

Damian Calhoun is the Prep Sports Coordinator and writer for the Daily Breeze. He's also the soccer writer for the Southern California News Group, covering Major League Soccer and occasionally the U.S. national teams.